New Co-op cafe to feed stomachs, minds

Hungry residents will have another option for downtown snacking starting this weekend, courtesy of the Silver City Food Co-op. The Co-op is expanding into their annex at 614 N. Bullard St. with the Market Cafe — a prepared food eatery carrying on their goal of healthy, organic food.

Mike Madigan is helming the Market Cafe and sees this new project as an extension of the Co-op’s overall philosophy — to promote healthy living throughout the community.

“The Co-op, for the longest time, has been the champion for healthy and organic food in Silver City,” Madigan said. Now with stores like Walmart and Albertsons picking up the torch and offering organic options, there has been what Madigan sees as a social shift. “That’s a victory for the Co-op. That’s been what we have been pushing for so long.”

Madigan said that other stores sharing some of the Co-op’s responsibility opens up new doors for the healthy food cooperative.

“Now we have a valuable opportunity to push a little bit more and more optimistically for the other things a co-op stands for — community education, bringing light to some of our social issues and acting as a hub for community,” he said. “On some level, creating a cafe environment, that’s a starting point for us.”

Madigan said that he and his staff of two will start with a vegetarian and vegan mindset. They plan spicy peanut pasta, greens-based burgers and falafel, to name a few dishes. They will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, beginning this Saturday.

In addition to acting as a new eatery, the space will continue to be used for classes, meetings and markets for members and residents, according to Charmeine Wait, Co-op education and member outreach director. The Co-op started holding local artisan and flea markets in the annex earlier this year.

“We want to continue and even increase our markets there,” Wait said. “There are always more things we want to offer that just can’t fit in the Co-op. That’s one of the best things about this.”

Madigan said he hopes these new activities and the food will help build on what business owners like Anthony Quintana, of the Fry House, and Shevek Barnhart, of the planned Burgers and Brownies and Beers, Oh My!, have already begun. He sees these business owners taking steps to bring people downtown who haven’t usually ventured there. “I want this to be a place where all the different communities in Silver City can gather,” Madigan said.

The additional Co-op location will also house the cooking oil receptacle for the Fry House after the Silver City Town Council last month denied Quintana permission to put it on a small section of sidewalk on Texas Street.